


Tied with a Plum Blossom

by Luneth



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: F/M, Haiku, Love Letters, Secret Admirer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-06-29
Packaged: 2020-05-30 19:53:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19410250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luneth/pseuds/Luneth
Summary: Olivia starts to receive anonymous love letters outside her tent. She hasn't the faintest who it could be, but the words are beautiful and elegant.





	Tied with a Plum Blossom

**Author's Note:**

> A rairpair for my friend~ Featuring a sweet shy woman and a silent gentleman.

“I’ll be right there!” Olivia called over her shoulder as she hurried past the tents. “I just need to grab my dancing rings!”

“Hurry up!” Sully shouted back. “I’m raring to get going!”

“R-Right!” She answered before skirting around a barrel to get to her own tent.

She stopped short. Lying at the entrance to her tent was a scroll, tied up in a pink ribbon with a sprig of plum blossoms wedged inside. She blinked rapidly, then delicately picked it up, pulling the sprig loose before opening the school.

_Falling plum blossoms_

_Twirling upon spring breezes_

_Have not your fine grace._

Olivia blinked, then reread the words once, twice, then sputtered and jerked back as he face bloomed a bright scarlet. This was, a note?? A love note?? For her? Who-

Her gaze dropped down to the end of the paper, but there was no name. The handwriting was beautiful, with a deliberate, elegant hand. Could it be Virion? But no, surely he would sign his name then.

“YO OLIVIA!” Olivia jumped as Sully poked her head around the tent to holler at her. “What’s up?? We still training?”

“Y-Yes!” Olivia yelped and hastily stuff the letter and branch away into her pocket. “Just a moment!”

000

It wasn’t until later, sweating and sore from trading blows with wooden swords, that Olivia dug around in her bag and again found the letter. Her heart jumped a beat as she unfolded it again. She gave a furtive glance around, then hastily hurried off back to her tent.

She spread the note out on her desk, carefully smoothing out each wrinkle. She lay the plum blossom out tenderly beside it.

Could it be some mistake? Olivia’s eyebrows drew together in worry. What if they had gotten the tents mixed up, or someone had dropped it by accident?

She shook her head and quickly rolled the paper up again. There was no name on it, so she really had no way to respond. The thought comforted her, somewhat; she had no idea what she would say in return.

Still…as she turned the twig of flowers over in her hands, she couldn’t help wondering who had left such a nice gift, and such a beautiful note.

000

Another letter came a few days later, as Olivia was returning from the bathing tent, having washed off the stench of Risen from the battle earlier today. There had been some tough moments, and Olivia shuddered when she remembered plunging her sword into the neck of one of the decaying monsters. They had all made it through, though. That’s what mattered.

With that thought in mind, she didn’t notice the note until she had nearly stepped on it. She squeaked and jumped back, then scooped it up and looked around. No one was nearby. She hurried into her tent to examine it further.

This note was tied with a long, embroidered ribbon, the kind she could wear in her hair. Gulping, she pulled it loose to read the note.

_Skillful sword and dance_

_The breath of foes, and of I_

_You take with such grace_

_How I am slain not by blade_

_How I am slain by your skill_

Oh God, someone had been **watching** her?? Olivia felt her face burning as she slapped the note down to cover her face. How mortifying! True, surely people had seen her in the fight. Lonqu often guarded her back, and Robin of course kept an eye on everyone. But this was…someone had seen her, and… _admired_ her.

She still had no idea who it could be. Who would notice little shy her? And who would take the time to compose such beautiful poems, leaving them at her tent? No one came to mind. Actually, looking at the note, the structure of the poetry was new to her. It was obviously a poem, but…

She sighed and rubbed her head. There was no mistake, the description of dancing and swords was definitely her. Still…she found it hard to believe someone could be so smitten. And if they were so smitten, why not add their name? Perhaps they were just teasing her?

But…As Olivia read over the words again, she felt too touched to suspect this was a prank. She doubted anyone in the group was cruel enough to do such a thing, anyways.

That said, she was dying to know who had written these, who had been able to form such touching words around her, and deliver them in such a heartfelt manner.

She turned her attention to the ribbon. It was very fine. She hopped it hadn’t been expensive. She drew her hair back, then used the ribbon to tie it up before examining herself in her hand-mirror. The ribbon sparkled in her hair as she moved. Not only that, but the bright hue matched her hair quite well. She flushed a shade of pink and ducked her head into a bashful smile. Throughout her dancing career, she had attracted the eye of quite a few suitors, but none had given her the gentle, considerate feeling of this one. The thought of meeting him sent shivers of anxiety through her, mingled with an excitement and longing. She arranged her letters neatly on her desk. Perhaps they would reveal themselves in time. Eventually…

000

She spotted the next note early in the morning, just as she was stepping outside. She had been prowling around for the past few days, trying to catch the perpetrator. They must have caught on, hence the early hour. She huffed a bit as she took the note inside to read.

_My notes without name_

_Forgive my cowardice here_

_That I not reveal myself_

_With shame I find myself weak_

_From thought of meeting your face_

_“ **You’re** feeling weak??” _Olivia released a loud groan and let her head fall back. _“I think I’ll die if things go on like this!”_

“Olivia?!” Lonqu stuck his head in, sword in hand. “What is it? Assassins?”

“What?? No!” Olivia spun around, dropping the paper. Lonqu tilted his head to the side as it fluttered to the ground.

“You sounded distressed. Did someone send you a threat?”

“No!” Olivia scooped it back up again and carefully dusted it off. “It’s um, It’s a letter…” Lonqu stepped over to take a look. He squinted down at the words.

“…What is it? They’re scare of you?”

“No! Well, I hope not!” Olivia ducked her head and sighed heavily. “It’s um, someone’s been sending me these poems, you see.”

“Poems,” Lonqu repeated, and his eyebrows drew together as he scrutinized the note harder.

“I don’t know who it is,” She began to ramble as he examined the note, “But they’ve been so sweet I’m touched but…but I have no idea what they would see in me, or why they would go through the effort, or if they really like me or if we actually met would I disappoint them or are they just-”

“I think I’ve seen this kind of poem before,” Lonqu commented. Olivia’s eyes snapped wide and she leaned in.

“What?? Where?”

“The style is familiar,” Lonqu leaned back away from her, rubbing his chin in thought. “Some, foreign nation. They have a style of writing like this.”

“Foreign…nation?” Olivia’s eyebrows drew together in thought. “Maybe Basilio would know? No, probably not poetry. Maybe…”

000

“T-Tiki! Um, Miss Tiki!”

“Hm?” Tiki opened her eyes as Olivia trotted over to her resting place under the tree. Olivia stopped short, suddenly apprehensive.

“I-I’m sorry, were you sleeping??”

“Oh no it’s fine.” Tiki offered a gentle smile to encourage. “I was just resting my eyes for a moment. How can I help you?”

“Um, well!” Olivia dropped to her knees beside her, the letters clutched in her hands. “You’ve been, around the world a lot, right? Do you know what this style of poetry is from?”

“Let’s see…” Tiki leaned over to peer down at the letters. Her eyes skipped over the lines, widened, then she gave a wide smile. Olivia flushed red and nearly stuff the letters back into her back.

“Oh my, Olivia! You have an admirer!”

“W-Well…I guess so, yes.” Olivia stammered and ducked her head. Tiki took another look at them.

“And such a fine grasp of waka poetry, too!” She pointed to the first letter. “This is a haiku. These two are tanka.” Olivia’s eyes lit up.

“So you know where they’re from??”

“Oh yes!” Tiki clapped her hands together and her eyes took on a dreamy look. “Such a beautiful style. Say’ri sometimes writes them for me.” She giggled a bit and pressed a hand to her mischievous smile. “Would you like to see them? I’ve saved them.”

“Oh! Well, um, maybe later…” Olivia shuffled the letters together, wearing a ponderous expression. “So, this poetry is from Say’ri’s homeland.”

“I believe so, though it’s not her handwriting.” Tiki examined the letters further. “Such strong strokes, regardless. I have an idea of who it might be…but you much be able to guess but now as well, can’t you?” Olivia shook her head.

“Not really. I mean, the only person I know from Say’ri’s kingdom are her, and her-” She froze, then slowly raised her head to stare at Tiki with wide eyes.

“ _No_ ,” She whispered. Tiki leaned in, eyes shining.

“ _Yes_.”

000

Yen’fay was a ways away from camp, sitting alone under the shade of a cherry blossom. He opened his eyes as Olivia approached. His eyes fell on the papers in her hand, gripped tightly but with care not to crumple. The faintest grimace crossed his face before he closed his eyes once more.

“It was foolish of me,” He murmured, “To assume you were not clever enough to find out my identity.”

“I wasn’t really…” She mumbled back, “Um, I ended up, asking Tiki, and Say’ri…”

“That still required your investigation.”

“It was really you?” She blurted out, then squeaked and her face flushed bright red. “I-I mean…um…”

“You are disappointed,” Yen’fay guessed. Olivia shook her head violently.

“No! I’m not! Not at all, I promise! I’m just, really surprised!”

“I would not be upset to hear you are disappointed,” He assured her, “I understand, I’m far from-”

“I wasn’t disappointed!” Olivia cut in, practically shouting. She then yelped and ducked her head. “I-I’m sorry for yelling, but, I wasn’t! Really! I, um…” She ruffled the letters in her hands. “I-I thought the letters were, quite beautiful!”

Yen’fay was silent for a few seconds, but he eventually raised his head to look up at her.

“It is easy to write,” He answered, “When the subject is so beautiful.”

Olivia stuttered and squeaked while Yen’fay lowered his gaze toward the ground. It seemed he too, was embarrassed, and the realization eased Olivia’s nerves somewhat.

“U-Um…” Olivia hesitated, then sat down beside him. “C-Could you…show me how to make poems like these?” Yen’fay answered with a slow nod.

“Yes, I would be happy to.”


End file.
